ACTIVE REPORTS HIGHER REVENUE, SMALLER LOSS

The Active Network, a San Diego maker of event registration software, posted higher revenue and a narrower loss for its fourth quarter than Wall Street analysts had been predicting.

The company said Thursday that sales for the quarter reached $76 million, up 23 percent from the year before. Analysts had forecast sales of $74.4 million.

The company lost $8.5 million in the quarter, or 16 cents a share, compared with a loss of $9.1 million for the same quarter last year.

Analysts had been forecasting a loss of 22 cents a share for the quarter.

Active Network makes registration and management software for a host of event organizers ranging from triathlons to churches, campgrounds to golf tee time providers.

The fourth quarter is a seasonally slow one for Active Network because many of its registration customers do most of their business in warmer months. It delivers its software under a subscription-based software-as-a-service business model. The company went public in May 2011.

Fourth-quarter results also were affected by the company’s $51 million acquisition of StarCite, a Pennsylvania-based technology company that helps manage corporate meetings and events. Active Network faced severance and other costs related to acquisition in the quarter.

Dave Alberga, chief executive of Active Network, said the StarCite acquisition brought the company “a deep list of Fortune 500 clients, including 10 of the 15 largest technology companies, nine of the 15 largest pharmaceutical companies and 10 out of 15 of the largest financial institutions in North America.”

For the full year, Active Network posted revenue of $337.4 million, up 21 percent from the previous year. Its net loss was $15.3 million, compared with $27.3 million in 2010.